


crushed

by sad_goomy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, F/M, Feelings Realization, High School, had to up the rating because gladion says a bad word like a real hooligan, lonashipping, mahinashipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_goomy/pseuds/sad_goomy
Summary: Everyone at Melemele High School seems to have had a crush on Moon.Everyone except Gladion.





	crushed

 

"Wait, seriously?" 

Hau urges him to keep quiet, but Gladion can't help but gawk at the confession his best friend has made as they sit in the back of the classroom, waiting for the bell to ring. A few kids in their homeroom have trickled in, thankfully too absorbed in their own conversations to have noticed Gladion's outburst. 

Once his initial shock has worn off, Gladion takes a deep breath, brows furrowing in confusion. No matter how many times the words repeat themselves in his head, he just can't wrap his mind around it. "You had a crush on... _Moon_?" 

With a sheepish grin, Hau scratches the back of his neck and laughs, "I mean, yeah, but like, so has everyone else in our class, so what's the big deal?" 

"Moon, though? Seriously?" The big deal, at least according to Gladion, is how anyone could look at Moon like that. He hasn't known her for long, having just transferred to Melemele High with Lillie last year, but he's just gotten over Moon as a rival and only recently considered her a friend. Someone honestly finding the annoying, quiet, sardonic know-it-all to be anything beyond a nuisance seems near impossible to him. 

But the second half of Hau's statement suddenly pricks his mind. "Wait. Everyone? As in  _multiple_  people have honest to god liked Moon?" 

"Oh man, you haven't heard?" Hau leans back in his seat, always happy to explain the school's social currents and gossip to Gladion. "Yeah dude, it's kind of a thing. We call it the 'Lunar Phase.’" 

"No one calls it that." 

"Okay fine, but it's a real thing!" Hau scowls at Gladion's unaffected deadpan stare, growing frustrated with his best friend. He looks around, making sure no one is eavesdropping before leaning in conspiratorially and whispering, "It started in middle school, but by now half the kids in our grade have had a crush on Moon. I mean first it was Declan, then Leilani, Kiawe for like over a year, and definitely Kai and Freddy – Mallow and Lana at the same time which was wild, and - " 

Gladion's convinced he's stumbled into an alternate universe in which he's the only sane person left alive. Desperate to disprove the theory, he scans his head for someone who couldn't possibly have fallen under whatever ridiculous spell everyone else has. "What about Ilima?" 

Hau grins. "Freshman year." 

The blond gapes. "No way," he breathes, managing to shake himself out of his stupor. He tries desperately to make sense of it, to see how anyone could, in any way, look at Moon and feel something other than the need to cut her down to size or roll their eyes. "There's just no way." 

Hau rolls his eyes. "Why are you having such a hard time believing it?" 

"Because she's  _Moon_." 

"Yeah, a smart, pretty girl with a sense of humor who tries to help everyone." Gladion scoffs, like absolutely no teenager should, and Hau shakes his head as the bell rings. "Just you wait man, it's just a matter of time before you enter your Lunar Phase, too." 

The rest of their homeroom files in, including the girl in question, who laughs at something Lillie says as they walk towards the two boys. Gladion frowns. Sure, now that he looks at her, there's no doubt that she's pretty, even with the stupid t-shirts and frumpy cardigans and grandpa glasses. He knows that she's smart, even if it usually manifests as her crossing her arms and correcting him in that one condescending tone. And okay, he can admit that she's one of the genuinely most compassionate and reliable people he's gotten to know. 

But never in a million years is he going to see her as anything other than Moon. 

 

* * *

 

A million years passes a lot quicker than Gladion would have imagined. 

It's more like a month later, at her house as she helps him study for his Japanese midterm. She goes through the flashcards, gently correcting his pronunciation as he tries not to claw his hair out and curse the day he signed up for the class. 

"I should have taken French," he mutters after stumbling through another practice conversation with her. Half his body is on the table in defeat, his head resting on his crossed arms, watching Moon as she pops the last of the popcorn they made for motivation into her mouth. 

"Yeah, probably." She smirks at the scowl he serves her, but her face softens into something that makes Gladion look away out of embarrassment. "You know, I agreed to help you study because you aren't a total lost cause." 

"Gee, thanks." 

"You know what I mean." 

"I really don't." 

Moon sighs, and her entire body shifts, and the smile she gives him does something inconceivable to his heartbeat. "I mean that you're being too hard on yourself. You can't compare yourself to me when I literally grew up in Japan." He bites his cheek, avoiding her eyes because he's only just realizing how well she can read him. Still, she keeps her gaze on him, and he can feel how warm it is. "You're doing really well, and I know you're gonna do fine on your midterm. You're the smartest guy I know." 

His eyes lock with hers, and it's as if the universe has flipped a switch in his brain. 

The realization comes in a wave, and it starts small and slow, far away from the shore.  

She looks to the empty bowl and grabs it, her chair scraping against the floor as she stands. "I'm gonna make some more popcorn. You want anything?" 

The wave picks up speed, forming in the water and beginning to roar.  

Gladion swallows the lump in his throat. "No, I'm good." It comes out much quieter than he means it, too, and he immediately notices even when she doesn't seem to.  

The wave is getting bigger. 

"Cool, be right back." 

And when she walks out of the living room, the wave crashes into him and he can practically hear Hau's voice taunting him as the words 'Lunar Phase' invade his mind. He stares with wide eyes at nothing in particular, the wave receding back into the ocean so that the realization isn't quite so loud but now incredibly vast and unavoidable. 

His head hits the table with a quiet thud. 

"Aw  _shit_." 

Hau's going to give him such a hard time about this on Monday. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Gladion; Hau is always right.


End file.
